1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to shipping containers, and more particularly, pertains to a shipping container for semiconductor substrate wafers and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the field of semiconductor substrate wafers, it has been a general practice to employ containers to store and ship the substrate wafers. Most prior art containers have been unsatisfactory in that the containers fail to protect the wafers against contamination from the environment, and handling damage during storage and shipping.
Rigid working wafers of semiconductor substrate material such as silicon are used extensively in the production of integrated circuits. Integrated circuit patterns are deposited and etched onto the substrate wafers in a number of steps of a process. The completion of the integrated circuit requires multistep procedures, and accordingly, the substrate wafers must be handled and are oftentimes shipped from one plant to another during the processing of the integrated circuits. Since the substrate wafers are rather large in dimension and of a rather small thickness, the likelihood of breakage of the substrate wafers is especially high during shipping. The wafers can be in the range of one and one-half to four inches in diameter and can be in the range of fifteen to fifty thousandths of an inch in thickness.
During transporting such as by common carrier and the like, the shipping container must protect the brittle, delicate substrate wafers against shipping damage and also against environmental contamination such as from dust, dirt, moisture, and the like.
The prior art shipping containers previously known and utilized have not been totally satisfactory for the purpose of retaining and cushioning the substrate wafers confined in the shipping container in addition to protecting the substrate wafers from environmental contamination. Also, the prior art shipping containers have had numerous sharp edges and have not easily lended themselves to heat shrinkable plastic bag sealing. The prior art containers have cut and shredded the plastic bags with the sharp edges of the container resulting in a shipping container which not only shredded the plastic bag seal covering of the package but also tended to lacerate the individual's hands handling the container.
The present invention overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art shipping containers by providing a shipping container for semiconductor substrate wafers.